Misplaced
by CreativeCrayon
Summary: The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica is basically a crossover for everything. So, I'm just going to list the main ones that are present in my story. Doctor Who/League of Extraordinary Gentlemen/Rawhide/The Time Machine/A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court/Narnia/Clue
1. Chapter 1

Children have been going missing for centuries.

Doreen Callahan never thought that she would be one of them.

The bookworm had heard rumors of 'the men with clocks in their bellies' since she was a little girl: the men that haunted each and every child's waking nightmares - their darkest dreams and haunted memories that came to kidnap them in the middle of the night.

Clockwork men.

And they had come for her.

It was night and the crickets were softly singing their high notes and mournful songs. The stars shone innocently from the heavens. The little farmhouse stood where none but nature could harm it. The lights from the nearby city lit up the sky to the south and cast eerie shadows over the unplowed fields of the Iowa landscape.

Two figures, silent except for the soft whirring and ticking of a sound like a clock stared at the house before slowly making their way towards it.

Doreen Callahan woke with a start. Something was not right. Something was wrong. Something was rotten in Denmark as Shakespeare would say. She cocked her head to the side and listened intently to the common household noises that filled her home at this time of night. The sound of the air conditioner nearly drowned out the sound of her parents' snores. The grandfather clock downstairs chimed 1:00am and a soft whirring sound was calling for her to go back to sleep.

The room was pitch-black due to the fact that Doreen drew the blinds every night and closed her door to allow for no light to enter the room – she slept better that way – and she could see nothing.

_Tick. _

_Tick. _

_Tick. _

_Tick. _

_Tick. _

_Tick._

This was not a normal sound. Something was not right.

Slowly, Doreen reached over to switch on the lamp that lay on her bedside table and her eyes widened in shock and horror.

What met her eyes made her believe just about every fairytale and science-fiction story she had ever read.

There, by her door, were two men – half-machine and half-human. Their faces were half gone and their movements were slow and jerky. There was a soft ticking sound that emanated from their abdomens.

Doreen was frozen with shock and found it hard to speak - to even think. However, the seventeen-year-old-girl was saved from speaking when the two men spoke simultaneously.

And their words – other than their actions - struck fear into her heart.

"The King of Crickets has requested your presence."

Doreen's scream was cut short as they seized her and slammed the back of her head with heavy hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Date: July 2, 1901

Place: Red Rose Cafe, Isle of Dogs, England, United Kingdom, Europe, Earth, The Solar System

Time: 3:51pm

The café was moderately crowded - but not so much so that the girl sitting with her back to the wall could not see every face as they went about their business. She was fairly thin and had shoulder-length hair the color of a Red Velvet cupcake. A strange shoulder tattoo could be faintly seen through the sheer fabric of her sleeve. The girl wore trousers; a leather vest over a sheer long sleeved shirt; around her neck were several assorted pendants, one was a key, another was a thin, golden coin, an 18th century boson's whistle, a silver cross, a miniature of the Eiffel Tower, a bronze ankh, and a small compass also was hung about her neck - a shocking thing since women were never known to wear such things in that day and age. But Doreen was not of that age. And she certainly did not stand out in this café.

Some of the patrons were not human at all - there were centaurs and dwarves and elves and gnomes. Others looked human, but did not dress the part - there were at least two wizards (one with a very singed hand and another with beetles falling out from underneath his hat), three hags, and a witch. The hags were all sitting together, cursing and swearing at anyone who stepped near their table. The wizards were pointedly not looking at each other (even though they were sitting at the same corner of the cafe). the centaur and dwarves were sitting together and discussing several old maps.

The bartender took a glance around the room.

Everything was as it should be.

Then the door opened and the bartender's least favorite person in the world strode in with his two trusted companions by his side.

The first to enter and the obvious leader needed no introduction: his name was Jules Verne, the time traveler. Just behind him and to his right was the short and slightly round tatterdemalion Bert, the Far Traveler. And the handsome ex-pirate, Hank Morgan, stood to the left of Verne and cast his eyes around the room in a suspicious manner.

The entire café went silent for a moment as the occupants gaged the newcomers, but they soon went back to their previous business. This was no matter of their and they had no intent to disturb whatever business these three men had.

Verne walked up to the bartender, leaving his companions to seat themselves at a near-by table - a table which just happened to be right by the door.

The bartender stammered as he hastily began wiping down some glasses he had just cleaned, "What can I do for you, Mr. Verne?"

The question was simple: "I would like to know if you have seen anything or anyone peculiar in the last few days?" But the reasons behind the question were not. Verne was looking for anyone who was working with the Echthroi - anyone or anything.

With a glance at the girl in the corner, the bartender told Verne all that the other man needed to know. She was different and unusual - not that she had not been kind, for she certainly had been - but that does not necessarily make one immune to the effects of an Echthroi poisoning one's shadow.

As if on cue, Doreen rose from her seat and made her way through the labyrinth of tables to the front door, but Hank Morgan got there first. He leaned casually against the wooden frame and smiled at the young woman, "Hello."

Doreen took in the situation very quickly. There was no chance for escape - it would be useless against these three men. She smiled back, "Hi."


End file.
